Working With Owner Labor

Owners can contribute useful work if you treat them like subs

I build low-cost single-family homes
on the Mt. Snow valley of southern
Vermont. Since 1977, I have been
involved in the construction of about
60 homes, both as a sole proprietor and
as a founder and partner in a workers'
cooperative. I presently work with one
other carpenter to erect the equivalent
of four homes in a nine-month building
season each year. In 90 percent of these
cases, we use some amount of owner
labor to help keep costs down. These
homes are custom designed and stickbuilt,
and they are all contracted by
clients, before start, in a $55,000 to
$65,000 price range (not including
land). Almost all projects are funded by
the Farmers Home Administration
(FmHA) or